Monday evening November 28

Preparation

Opening response

Favor us, Lord, and deliver us.Lord, come quickly and help us.

Reveal among us the light of your presencethat we may behold your power and glory.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Sovereign God,creator of light and darkness,to you be glory and praise forever.As evening falls, you renew your promiseto reveal among us the light of your presence.May your word be a lantern to our feetand a light upon our paththat we may behold your coming among us.Strengthen us in our stumbling weaknessand free our tongues to sing your praise.Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.Blessed be God forever.

That this evening may be holy, good and peaceful,let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As our evening prayer rises before you, O God,so may your mercy come down upon usto cleanse our heartsand set us free to sing your praisenow and forever.Amen.

When passing through the watery deep,I ask in faith his promised aid,The waves an awful distance keep,And shrink from my devoted head;Fearless, their violence I dare;They cannot harm, for God is there!

To him mine eye of faith I turn,And through the fire pursue my way;The fire forgets its power to burn,The lambent flames around me play;I own his power, accept the sign,And shout to prove the Savior mine.

Since thou hast bid me come to thee,Good as thou art, and strong to saveI’ll walk over life’s tempestuous sea,Upborne by the unyielding wave,Dauntless, though rocks of pride be near,And yawning whirlpools of despair.

Though in affliction’s furnace tried,Unhurt on snares and death I’ll tread;Though sin assail, and hell, thrown wide,Pour all its flames upon my head,Like Moses’ bush, I’ll mount the higher,And flourish unconsumed in fire.

Confession of sin

Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

Silence may be kept.

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against youin thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name. Amen.

Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sinsthrough our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in allgoodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us ineternal life. Amen.

The Word of God

Psalm 70

Refrain: Hurry to me, God! You are my helper and my deliverer.

Hurry, God, to deliver me; hurry, Lord, to help me!Let those who seek my life be ashamed and humiliated! Let them fall back and be disgraced— those people who delight in my downfall!Let those who say, “Aha! Aha!” stop because of their shameful behavior.But let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you, and let those who love your saving help say again and again: “God is great!”But me? I’m poor and needy. Hurry to me, God!You are my helper and my deliverer. Oh, Lord, don’t delay!

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Refrain: Hurry to me, God! You are my helper and my deliverer.

Psalm prayer

Psalm 71

Refrain: Don’t be far from me, God.

I’ve taken refuge in you, Lord. Don’t let me ever be put to shame!Deliver me and rescue me by your righteousness! Bend your ear toward me and save me!Be my rock of refuge where I can always escape.You commanded that my life be saved because you are my rock and my fortress.My God, rescue me from the power of the wicked; rescue me from the grip of the wrongdoer and the oppressor because you are my hope, Lord. You, Lord, are the one I’ve trusted since childhood.I’ve depended on you from birth— you cut the cord when I came from my mother’s womb. My praise is always about you.I’ve become an example to many people because you are my strong refuge.My mouth is filled with your praise, glorifying you all day long.Don’t cast me off in old age. Don’t abandon me when my strength is used up!Yes, my enemies have been talking about me; those who stalk me plot together: “God has abandoned him! Pursue him! Grab him because no one will deliver him!”Don’t be far from me, God! My God, hurry to help me!Let my accusers be put to shame, completely finished off! Let those who seek my downfall be dressed in insults and disgrace!But me? I will hope. Always. I will add to all your praise.My mouth will repeat your righteous acts and your saving deeds all day long. I don’t even know how many of those there are!I will dwell on your mighty acts, my Lord. Lord, I will help others remember nothing but your righteous deeds.You’ve taught me since my youth, God, and I’m still proclaiming your wondrous deeds!So, even in my old age with gray hair, don’t abandon me, God! Not until I tell generations about your mighty arm, tell all who are yet to come about your strength, and about your ultimate righteousness, God, because you’ve done awesome things!Who can compare to you, God?You, who have shown me many troubles and calamities, will revive me once more. From the depths of the earth, you will raise me up one more time.Please increase my honor and comfort me all around.Then I’ll give you thanks with a harp— I will thank you for your faithfulness, my God. I will make music for you with the lyre, holy one of Israel.My lips will rejoice aloud when I make music for you; my whole being, which you saved, will do the same.My tongue, also, will tell of your righteousness all day long, because those who seek my downfall have been put to shame and disgraced.

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Refrain: Don’t be far from me, God.

Psalm prayer

Faithful Lord, living Savior,in youth and old age,from the womb to the grave,may we know your protectionand proclaim your great salvationto the glory of God the Father.

Old Testament readingIsaiah 25:1-9

Lord, you are my God.I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, planned long ago, faithful and sure.You have turned the city into rubble, the fortified town into a ruin, the fortress of foreigners into a city no more, never to be rebuilt.Therefore, strong people will glorify you; the towns of tyrant nations will fear you.You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in distress, a hiding place from the storm, a shade from the heat.When the breath of tyrants is like a winter storm or like heat in the desert, you subdue the roar of foreigners.Like heat shaded by a cloud, the tyrants’ song falls silent.

On this mountain, the Lord of heavenly forces will prepare for all peoples a rich feast, a feast of choice wines, of select foods rich in flavor, of choice wines well refined.He will swallow up on this mountain the veil that is veiling all peoples, the shroud enshrouding all nations.He will swallow up death forever.The Lord God will wipe tears from every face; he will remove his people’s disgrace from off the whole earth, for the Lord has spoken.They will say on that day,“Look! This is our God, for whom we have waited— and he has saved us!This is the Lord, for whom we have waited; let’s be glad and rejoice in his salvation!”

Silence may be kept.

New Testament readingMatthew 12:1-21

At that time Jesus went through the wheat fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry so they were picking heads of wheat and eating them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are breaking the Sabbath law.”

But he said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and those with him were hungry? He went into God’s house and broke the law by eating the bread of the presence, which only the priests were allowed to eat. Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple treat the Sabbath as any other day and are still innocent? But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what this means, I want mercy and not sacrifice, you wouldn’t have condemned the innocent. The Human One is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus left that place and went into their synagogue. A man with a withered hand was there. Wanting to bring charges against Jesus, they asked, “Does the Law allow a person to heal on the Sabbath?”

Jesus replied, “Who among you has a sheep that falls into a pit on the Sabbath and will not take hold of it and pull it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! So the Law allows a person to do what is good on the Sabbath.” Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he did and it was made healthy, just like the other one. The Pharisees went out and met in order to find a way to destroy Jesus.

Jesus knew what they intended to do, so he went away from there. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them all. But he ordered them not to spread the word about him, so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled:

Look, my Servant whom I chose, the one I love, in whom I find great pleasure.I’ll put my Spirit upon him, and he’ll announce judgment to the Gentiles.He won’t argue or shout, and nobody will hear his voice in the streets.He won’t break a bent stalk, and he won’t snuff out a smoldering wick, until he makes justice win.And the Gentiles will put their hope in his name.

Silence may be kept.

Gospel canticleThe Magnificat (The Song of Mary)

Refrain:Lord Jesus, you are the one who is to come, the one whom we await with longing hearts.

With all my heart I glorify the Lord!In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favoredbecause the mighty one has done great things for me.Holy is his name.He shows mercy to everyone,from one generation to the next,who honors him as God.He has shown strength with his arm.He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.He has pulled the powerful down from their thronesand lifted up the lowly.He has filled the hungry with good thingsand sent the rich away empty-handed.He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,remembering his mercy, just as he promised to our ancestors, to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.

Luke 1:46-55

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:Lord Jesus, you are the one who is to come, the one whom we await with longing hearts.

Brief silence.

The Apostle’s Creed

Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried;he descended to the dead.On the third day he rose again;he ascended into heaven,is seated at the right hand of the Father,and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,the holy catholic church,the communion of saints,the forgiveness of sins,the resurrection of the body,and the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers

Thanksgiving and intercession

Thanksgiving may be made for the day.

Intercessions are offeredfor peacefor individuals and their needs

Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.

Response

Lord of lifeIn your mercy, hear us.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Almighty God,give us grace to cast away the works of darknessand to put on the armor of light,now in the time of this mortal life,in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;that on the last day,when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead,we may rise to the life immortal;through him who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Awaiting his coming in glory,as our Savior taught us, so we pray

Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,your kingdom come,your will be done,on earth as in heaven.Give us today our daily bread.Forgive us our sinsas we forgive those who sin against us.Lead us not into temptationbut deliver us from evil.For the kingdom, the power,and the glory are yoursnow and forever.Amen.